“In this endless freedom of thought you found no answers to these basic matters of human being, only a myriad choice of ideas lost in a deep dark hole of uncertainty.”

My first thought after watching the attached was, ‘this could have easily been in The Animatrix,’ so prep yourself for some late-night, cerebral, sci-fi shit. It was inspired by GOLEM XIV, a short story by Stanislaw Lew, and its visuals, atmospheric soundtrack and cold, sterile narration all pay proper homage to the deep, apprehensive spirit of his writings.

Co-directors Patrick Mccue and Tobias Wiesner said that their creative intention for the film was to inspire others to, ‘face [their] own process in this world with reflection and self responsibility, to stay curious and create, look for new ideas and stay keen,’ so get your mind shifted into the proper gear for maximum absorption.

For me, that means full-screen-in-a-dark-room with a nice pair of headphones on.

“I’ve grown a handsome tall tree, mother,
And I want to bear a fruit for you.
And I have carried your fears and your hopes, father;
They’re so heavy on my back, oh you should know.”

The process of becoming a person is a strange one; it is messy, inexact and crude. Anyone who tries to convince you that their maturation was as smooth, confident and intentional as an expertly executed golf stroke is lying. We are all tumbling through space, constantly trying on new masks and costumes hoping one eventually feels right. Someone once told me that you don’t know who you are until your late-twenties and, in my case at least, that’s more-or-less true.

Up until then we try desperately to make sense of the instincts, fears and desires that were imprinted into our fragile minds at birth or injected sometime after as the result of some inexplicably electric first-hand experience. We want to make our parents happy and then we relish their disapproval. We reject the social caste system but secretly hope we’re cool, forever longing for the approval of our peers. We love and we hate; we brood and we let go; we’re anything but still.

It’s a hard thing to fully encapsulate in few paragraphs of internet but that’s why we have music videos, right? If you haven’t noticed already, there’s another stunner from Sub Pop attached to the top of this post. It’s for a tune by Niki & The Dove, a two-piece pop outfit from Sweden whose sound is described by their aforementioned label as, “full of magic and light but with an unsettling darkness hidden beneath the surface.”

Yup. Sounds about right.

The visuals are from Sub Pop’s neighbors at WINTR who, I think you’d agree, knocked it out of the park. The out-there/colorful/abstract/geometric elements soar when tethered to the sweeping, baroque landscapes. The net effect is thrilling, like watching a kite pulled taut by the wind. Full-screen HD, y’all. Grab your headphones, crank the volume and enjoy!

How should I categorize this collaboration between AEAEAEAE and Hans-Henning Korb? It’s not eye candy per-say but there’s no discernable narrative either. So an eye-snack maybe? A morsel?

I dunno.

I rather liked it, though. A strange, uneasy comfort descended as I watched those little flocking pixies as they zipped to-and-fro, attracting and repelling one other, grabbing and reforming their bedsheet-one-moment-and-mountains-the-next hovering landscape as a Vangelis-esque tune (that could easily be mistaken as part of the Blade Runner Soundtrack) provides the ambiance. It’s some interesting and intriguing stuff and, judging from its title, there’s more to come. I certainly hope so, at least.

Yannick Puig was commissioned to direct and produce this strange and surreal music video for Sandy Lavallart (a.k.a. Kwoon). If you’re interested, head on over to Yannick’s website for a behind-the-scenes look into the inspiration and creative process that went into making the film. A big thanks goes to ‘bugy’ for the heads up on this one. Cheers!

Short but sweet; Jimmy Yuan of mirari brings the abstract, tightly animated goodness. From the looks of their website, mirari has only released short bits like SHIFT v2 thus far but we’re hoping they tackle a longer-form project soon.

“How will it be when you can choose what you turn into? Time to grooooooooow!”

It’s a two-for-one Encyclopedia Pictura Friday! These guys – Isaiah Saxon, Sean Hellfritsch and Daren Rabinovitch – make such awesome stuff. Can some big Hollywood studio just give them gobs of money to make a full-length feature?

It’s a colorful trip through universe, punctuated here and there by dashes of abstract geometry, that compliments the uplifting synths of the track rather nicely. You know the drill: headphones on, lights down, volume up. Enjoy!

Codehunters was broadcast as both a standalone short film and as branding for the MTV Asia Music Video Awards by Ben Hibon and super-talented crew over at Axis Animation. It’s one of my all-time favorite animated shorts and won the Golden Nica for Computer Animation/Visual Effects in 2007. Enjoy!